Five-A-Side a Dead Sport in Ambergris Caye

It used to be the No. 1 sport for sports aficionados. It used to attract hundreds of young children and teenagers to become athletes, and hundreds more young and old, men and women as fanatics of the event. Five-A-Side used to fill up Central Park for hot soccer action every Friday and Saturday nights.

Then a court was fabricated at The San Pedro Plaza (Old Football Field) and later on at the San Pedro Primary School Five-A-Side court. You could hear the shouts of the fans two blocks away and the live narration of the sports caster five blocks away. Undoubtedly this was a sport liked by everyone and promoted by such town leaders as Nicolas Varela, Omar Guerrero, Patty Arceo, Felipe Paz, and Gaby Arana among others. And then it suddenly went dead. Nobody else has been promoting it.

Just look at the excitement of young boys, Maya Eagles, in this Flashback to know that it is a sport worthy of reviving. Look at Santiago “Sanito” Vasquez, Marvin Duarte, Ismael “Smiley” Nuñez, Miguel Alamilla, Jason Nuñez, Francis “Chino” Eiley, Hardy Chan, Eddy Halliday Jr., Julius “Tach” Nuñez and Joseles “Joker” Gonzalez. The proud winning coach is Eddy Halliday Sr. Maya Eagles is only a fading proud reminder of the good old days of Hot Five-A-Side action in San Pedro.